Draw Card
by Kvaedi
Summary: AU: Mokuba tells the story of his brother. Short and poignant. *Repost: this was lost to one of the server crashes.*


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Yu-gi-oh!. I don't own the work of Pushkin's that inspired me. I own nothing of value. Don't sue. Just R&R. 

**Author's Note**: I posted this on FF.net a few weeks ago, and it stayed up for about a day and a half before being eaten by a server crash.   
    This is a weird story in Mokuba's POV. It is as AU as they get. Imagine if Kaiba hadn't lost to Yugi. Imagine if Yugi was a punk kid, and Kaiba wasn't evil to the core. Imagine the characters as being about three years older than they are on the show. And then, keep the flames down, because I will only laugh.   
    But if you DO like it...let me know, because I have another idea for a sorta-sequel!   
    For those of you not acquainted with Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin is considered by many Russians to be their "Shakespeare." I know, I'm a nerd, I read that kind of stuff for fun. This is based entirely (plot point for plot point) on a short story of his, which is much better than my YGO rewrite. The story is called "The Shot." Anyway, enough babbling. Story time. 

Draw Card

By Kvaedi 

With all concessions to Pushkin, and Kazuki Takahashi =) 

    I was living in the mansion at the time. You know how that is--the same routine every day. School in the morning, homework in the afternoon. My friends would come over, or I'd go to their houses, and all we'd do was play monster chess, or some other game. We were too young to look at girls, and the other kids' parents left us alone. So, we only ever saw each other.   
    Only one grownup was in the group--well, he was 17, so he was a grownup to us. My big brother, Seto. We all looked up to him. He was the oldest and most respected, but he didn't talk much. He was a mystery to all of us, even to me. Even though he was my brother, I never saw him any more than the other kids. Every day he wore the same long blue overcoat, staring at me the same way with his icy blue eyes. And when the other kids came to my house, he'd treat them all to dinner. There'd be pizza and ice cream, and root beer, and I guess we'd always wind up really sugar high. He wasn't really generous except to give us food and toys, and keep us amused.   
    And his favorite thing in the world? Duel Monsters Cards. That's all that he had in his room! His walls were covered with them, and everywhere he went he carried a briefcase full of the rarest cards. His skill with games was known throughout the city, and every once in a while, when he would sit down with us in the evening, he'd offer to take one of us on, and we'd fight for the honor.   
    After coming down from the sugar rush I guess we got kinda predictable, and we'd always talk about dueling. Seto never joined in. And we'd ask him if he used to duel, and he'd just say "yes." And nothing more, like the story wasn't one he was willing to share. I used to wonder why he never dueled, when he was so good at other games, and he had the best cards. But I never asked because I was too nervous.   
    But anyway, something happened one day that changed everything. We were all over at the mansion, our place, again. This time, it was my birthday. We'd had dinner and it was spaghetti, with big meatballs and lots of cheese, and it got all over our faces. And for dessert there was a big cake, with four layers, and chocolate frosting. I'd never eaten so much cake in my life. I guess none of the other kids had either because they were running all around the dining hall, pulling down the streamers and popping balloons. Even Seto had a big piece of the cake, and instead of calmly telling us all to sit, he sat back in his chair and let my friends trash the place. We had a food fight with chips and cheetos, and finally settled down in the rec room for a big game of monopoly, which was the only game that everyone could play at the same time, and that still had most of the pieces. I asked Seto if he would be banker, and he agreed.   
    I guess he had a real soft spot for me, now that I think about it. Though he was cold to everyone else, sometimes he'd mess with my hair, and hug me, and even smile sometimes. I knew he cared about me. That's why he came to play, because I asked him. He wouldn't have, for anyone else.   
    Well, Seto had a habit that most people didn't understand. He liked to play without talking, without explaining his moves. He'd just hand out properties and take money without a word. I wondered why he did that, but I didn't ask, and just went with it. In fact I've never played a game since any other way. But we were all full of the cake, what actually made it into our mouths, and the other kids were really loud. One was particularly bad. He knocked down my hotels, which Seto neatly replaced. He yelled and laughed and mocked people's moves, and some of us laughed with him, drinking our Jolt Colas and spilling on the rug. But he wasn't too smart, and we all knew he was the worst in the class at math. So it wasn't really a surprise when Seto handed him his change from the bank, and he threw a fit.   
    "You owe me an extra 20!"   
    He reached into the box and pulled out a crisp green note. My brother didn't say a word, just took another from the boy's pile and stuck it back in the box.   
    "Hey, jerk! That's my money! Cheater!"   
    The kid reached back into the box and stole another, and my brother took another one back. The rest of us were watching nervously, our heads buzzing.   
    "You f***er!" the kid screamed, picking up a huge slice of the chocolate cake, and hurling it forward. It smacked right into my brother's face, leaving smears of frosting and crumbs in his hair before it plopped onto Seto's lap. The kid laughed wildly, pointing. But the rest of us didn't. I was frozen in fear. Slowly the kid caught on, his mouth hanging open as Seto slowly stood up.   
    "Get out," Seto hissed. "And be glad it's Mokuba's birthday."   
    The kid snickered a minute, flipped him off, and ran out the door, bouncing down the steps in the grand hall. We all knew his ass was grass.   
    Seto sat back down, but we weren't really in the mood to play any more, and one by one, the other kids excused themselves and ran out onto the lawn to wait for their mothers. I was the last one to go, and not wanting to look at my brother, I snuck off to my bedroom. I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling before I fell asleep.   
    The next day at school, we all looked around for the kid, wondering what Seto had done to him. But then he showed up, looking perfectly healthy, and we couldn't figure it out. Normally, my brother would have done something. When I went home I found Seto in his room, sorting his Duel Monsters cards, like always, as though nothing had happened. 

    The whole experience really weakened Seto in my eyes. I'm ashamed to say that now, but at the time, I was embarrassed. I didn't know what to think of my brother who didn't even stand up for himself. At first, the other kids felt like that, too. I went over to their houses instead of them coming to mine. But gradually they got over it. A year went by like that, and it was my birthday again, and time for another party. We sat down at the table, and it was pizza this time, with extra cheese like I like it, and I thought to myself about how far out of his way Seto had gone to make this nice for me.   
    But whenever I pictured him I saw him with cake on his face, and I just couldn't bring myself to look at him.   
    One of the guards came in while everyone--except Seto--was singing Happy Birthday. He gave Seto a letter. I blew out the candles and watched him open it. It looked like an invitation. My brother stared at the letter, a smirk bending the corner of his mouth. He then stuck it back in the envelope and mumbled an order to the guard, who stared at him, stunned, for a minute before nodding and disappearing.   
    I got a lot of presents, and while the other kids were playing with them, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Seto wanted to talk to me. I didn't look at him, and he could tell there was something wrong. He took me into the other room, and set me on his lap.   
    "Mokuba," he said, his voice not sounding so harsh as it usually did. I turned away.   
    "I know you're upset about what happened last year."   
    He'd known, somehow. I looked up into his eyes.   
    "And believe me, if I could have punished that idiot kid without putting me--and you--in jeopardy, I would have."   
    "Seto," I mumbled.   
    "You know that I used to duel, Mokuba. And you know that I can't, now. And this...this is why."   
    Seto reached into his pocket, pulling out a Blue Eyes White Dragon card, its edges singed.   
    "My souvenir," he said, chuckling darkly. "Of the duel that never ended."   
    "What do you mean?" I asked, quietly.   
    "It happened three years ago. There was this kid, a little shrimp, like that fool out there. Yugi Mutou. He'd angered me, challenging me, making light of my reputation. We'd played a game...   
    _'My grandfather's deck has no pathetic cards. But it does contain the UNSTOPPABLE EXODIA!!'"_   
    I gasped in horror. "He defeated you?"   
    "No, Mokuba," he told me. "I had laid a trap card earlier. Instead of defeating me, Yugi bought himself a draw. My trap card destroyed all monsters on the field, but our life points were both so low that we were both wiped out. But his attack from Exodia burned the edges of my cards. Yugi insulted my dueling skills. I had never been so angered in my life as when he left that dueling arena."   
    I couldn't help but feel the anger rise in me, at Yugi for challenging him, and at Seto for having been so weak.   
    "I saw him again later at a tournament. I had come to challenge Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters. But he stood in the way. He challenged me to a duel on the castle ramparts. The loser would be knocked off the towers, falling to his death. I was angered at first, and accepted. But when I got to the top, I looked at his face, and I realized I'd rather eat my breakfast than kill. He stood no chance against me, and I stood down. I refused to draw. I offered him the first move.   
    "But he refused to make it. He laughed, and said that when I became man enough, the move was still mine."   
    Seto clenched his fist. I had never seen him like this, and it frightened me, and made me sick. I didn't want to see it any more.   
    "His life meant nothing to him that day, but now--now, he is getting married. To a beautiful girl that I once knew... Let's see how he feels now, on his wedding day. So I am leaving you, Mokuba. The corporation will be run for you, and you'll live your life without me. I don't think I will see you again."   
    I was hurt, and angry, and confused. I just mumbled goodbye and watched him go. He got into his limousine, with all his cards, and disappeared. 

*

    Some years later, I'd graduated from high school. I was as old as Seto was when he'd left. He hadn't returned. The corporation was sold, and I had gone to university in a far-off city. I didn't mind my new life, and I didn't miss my old friends much. The only person I ever thought about was Seto.   
    So when I heard who had just won the world Duel Monsters championship (for the tenth year in a row) and that he lived in a mansion nearby, I had to go see him and find out just what had happened to my brother. The thought of meeting Yugi face to face scared me a little, but I walked up to the door anyway. I knocked, and a man answered. He had spiky hair that was red and black, and yellow bangs. He was shorter than I was, and I imagined much shorter than Seto. Around his neck he wore a pyramid-shaped gold thing. He invited me inside, and I stepped into a grand hall that looked a whole lot like the old mansion's. The floor, however, was burned in two places, which overlapped somewhat. I said something about the coincidence, and Yugi flinched. Then his wife appeared, and I blushed, seeing why my brother had called her beautiful. She asked who I was, and I told her my name.   
    She looked at me, and said "he looks nothing like Kaiba."   
    Yugi touched her arm, and I frowned.   
    "You want to know what happened?" he asked. "When I met your brother again."   
    I nodded.   
    Yugi sighed and began.   
    "I can't believe how arrogant I was when I first dueled Kaiba. I know now that it had something to do with this puzzle, but at the time, I was consumed with the desire to win. I had to beat Kaiba to prove myself the best. But I failed to do that, so I had to duel him again. That is why I challenged him at Pegasus's castle.   
    "I'd almost forgotten about him when I got married. I moved in to this mansion, and I'd been here for a while when he showed up at the door. When he appeared, my old arrogance returned, and he called for the duel to resume on the spot. The room disappeared and became filled with shadows. Kaiba stared me down. He would not draw, even after all that time, even after coming here."   
    I listened, not daring to breathe.   
    "His eyes looking at me seemed to burn through my soul. I was afraid. I drew a card--the Dark Magician." He held up the card, taking it from his pocket. I looked at it and then listened for more.   
    "I readied for a dark magic attack. The Dark Magician's staff glowed with fiery energy, and when he set it on the ground, it made that mark that you see. I called on Kaiba to make his move, and then, Anzu ran in front of me, begging Kaiba to stop, begging him not to attack. I was embarrassed; Kaiba laughed."   
    Anzu looked down at the floor, and walked slowly out of the room. I watched her go.   
    "What happened?" I asked.   
    "He said he wasn't going to continue. He had forced me to draw, and that was good enough for him. He turned to leave, and my Dark Magician returned to his card. But just as he was almost to the door, and just as the shadows had almost disappeared, he turned and threw a card, which landed right in front of me. It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon. It appeared, and attacked with White Lightning where the Dark Magician had been." 

    Yugi told me the rest of the story. It turns out, Seto Kaiba went to play in some championships in a country where there was a war. One day, when he was playing, the stadium was bombed. He hadn't been seen or heard from again.   
    So that's what became of big brother.   
    Of Seto. 


End file.
